


Not good enough

by orphan_account



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, F/M, First Mission, Jacob and Ethan's relationship, Prequel, Prequel to Disagreement, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-05-27 17:07:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6292717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short prequel to my story Disagreement (AU). The twins discover they don't work as well together as they used to when they screw up in one of their missions. Jacob doesn't know, if he can live with it and it's up to Evie to get him back on his feet. Includes a short flashback to their very first mission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to my story Disagreement and as such is AU to the AC Syndicate game.
> 
> I am not a native speaker, so any corrections or comments on my style of writing are always appreciated!

Evie ran her hands along the soft leather of her boots, smoothing it along her thighs. They had been a gift from Jacob for her birthday quite a while ago and a pang of guilt still hit her thinking about the day; she'd forgotten about it, being too caught up in her search for the Shroud. The metal clasp and toecap shined in the dim light of the car, like a gentle reminder that she hadn't been the greatest sibling in the past months. Evie tried shaking the queasy feeling off, but without Henry or Jacob there, the silence in the passenger car gave her thoughts that much more room to intrude.

She tightened the other clasps along her thighs and reached for her cane sword. It was early, but never early enough to get a move on. She knocked on his car again. "Jacob! It's time!" She entered, while Jacob sat up, still half asleep, groping for his boots. Evie scrunched her nose. "You reek, Jacob. Of alcohol and… sewage water? When did you get home last night?"

"About an hour ago?" he mumbled.

She followed the outline of his muscles in his arms down to his rough hands, as he pushed himself into an upright position. She had been so occupied with finding the pieces of Eden, that she couldn't remember the last time she had let herself be held by him. Did he miss her as well? What had he been up to the last few days? She didn't even know. They had been growing apart during the past weeks; Evie had never even thought about not being by her brother's side, he was everything. It had happened slowly in the wake of their continuous fighting. Maybe they had reached that point, where staying close to each other was becoming more of an effort instead of a natural habit. A hollow feeling spread in her stomach and she felt that by realizing this she had taken another step away from him.

She pulled herself out of her reverie and instead found herself right at her brother's side. If she sat down now, she could easily reach out to cup his face in her hands and feel his rough stubble that could make her skin tingle so well.

"Where are my boots?"

"I can't believe you've made it this long without me", she mocked as she tapped her fingers on his feet with his boots still on, for which he apparently hadn't taken the time to take them off before going to sleep. "Maybe you're not ready for a fight yet, little brother, catch some more sleep", she teased him to make him hurry up. In a second he was on his feet at her side, pulling on his coat. Teasing him always worked. "Doubt thou truth to be a liar, Evie, but never doubt my fire" he replied in a sing song voice, already heading out. "You know Hamlet?" Evie was surprised. "Who?" he asked over his shoulder. Evie snorted, shaking her head as she followed him.

Moving among the tall buildings in London's cold morning air, it didn't take long for the twins to fall into their old habit of complementing each other's moves. The swiftness of their movements together and the rain whipping away at their faces exhilarated Jacob, it had been so long since they'd roamed London together. He would never admit it, especially not to his sister, but the fiasco around Ms Attaway had bruised his pride quite a bit; he'd liked her and she'd thoroughly fucked him over. Evie's inherent trust for him was therefore soothing to his soul.

"There", Evie grabbed his arm and pointed to the long wooden building. Looking at it from the outside one couldn't tell it was a factory, filled to the brim with working children. Jacob balled his hands into fists and nodded, getting ready to jump it, but Evie didn't let go of him. "We have a plan, Jacob, remember?" Jacob growled, but followed her. They scaled around the building and got to a roof hatch that was nailed shut with shabby wooden planks. Evie began working on prying the nails out with her cane. Jacob watched his sister's concentrated expression. The rain had made the two strands of hair that always fell out of her braid stick to her face so she'd brush them out of her eyes every so often; the tip of her nose was red from the cold and on wet skin her freckles stood out more. At that moment she reminded him of the day of their first ever mission, a memory he could gladly do without.

"May I?" Jacob brushed Evie's hands out of the way and swiftly pulled off the planks one by one with a sharp jerk of his arm. "Shall we?" he asked her with a smug grin. "Let's!"

 

1867

Jacob took off his cap and ran a hand through his wet hair, brushing the water out. The moment he entered their house his father appeared at the door to the salon.

"Jacob" he said firmly. "Warren's dead", Jacob affirmed, looking around. Ethan nodded. "Well done. Had any problems?" he added, looking at a wound that crossed through his son's brow. Absentmindedly Jacob wiped at the blood that still seeped out of the cut in a tiny trickle. Ignoring his father he asked, "Where's Evie?"

"Do you not trust her to do this on her own?"

"I'd almost trust her to kill me, if you ordered her to" Jacob shot back. "Lord knows, she'd be capable of handling me", he muttered to himself.

Ethan didn't answer right away. Looking at his son he again wondered when the relationship between them had become so estranged. Truth be told, Evie was the only link between them now.

"She arrived quite a while before you came and left again, I assumed she wanted to catch you before returning home", he finally answered, deciding not to act on his son's taunting words. Jacob nodded and turned to head back out the door. "I want you both to come into my study when you're back and report to me thoroughly. This was your first mission after all", Ethan said before Jacob left.

Stepping back outside into the rain, Jacob put his cap back on, and looked out towards the rail tracks. If Evie felt anything like he did at the moment, he knew exactly where he could find her. He didn't doubt for a second that she had carried out her mission perfectly up to the last drop of blood, but the way he felt right now got him concerned for her as well.

Evie wasn't there, when Jacob arrived at their usual spot on the roof of a station master's house. For good measure he broke in as well, just to check if she'd maybe sought shelter from the rain. When she was nowhere to be found he sat down and waited, she'd show up eventually.

Sure enough, he heard the light tap of her boots on the roof not soon after. Climbing up and looking over the edge he smiled to himself when he found her, her back to him, looking out over the railroad tracks in search of him. "I'm here", he said, pulling himself up. They quickly looked each other over, each one searching for a sign of injury on the other. As he'd expected, Evie looked like nothing had even happened.

"Are you alright?" Evie asked, reaching out to inspect the cut on her brother's face. Of course he'd get himself in a fight. Jacob lightly brushed her hand away. "The guy had a hidden blade and caught me by surprise. Didn't expect a simple miller to be geared up."

"Well, you could have taken him by surprise, without giving him a chance to know you're even there. You know, kinda like what we're supposed to do", Evie remarked.

"Where'd be the fun in that", Jacob smirked. "Also, don't pretend like I don't know how to be stealthy. May I - again - remind you, dear sister, of that one time I caught- "

"Okay! Okay, drop it." Evie growled to herself, wondering when he'd finally stop bringing that up.

They quietly sat side by side on the rooftop for a while, looking out over dozens of still trains, put to rest here at night. They always seemed to be mocking them when they left for London as if heading for adventure, and the twins watched them leave, envious.

"So, how was it?" Jacob finally asked into the silence. Evie shrugged. "I hit him with a throwing knife right in the back at the heart and he just fell over." Evie looked at her brother who studied her face, not saying anything. "It was... easy to snuff him out", she murmured, looking out again. Jacob nodded slowly.

"My target" he said, "had a picture of you on his desk. I think he knew dad would send us."

Evie looked at him sternly. "Is that why you wanted to fight him before killing him?" Jacob didn't answer. "You know what father says. Don't allow personal feelings to compromise the mission."

Jacob frowned. "But you're not just personal feelings, Evie." His sister opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. "Let it go for once. Besides, you're right. I shouldn't have drawn it out."

They were silent again for a while, until Evie sighed heavily. "They deserved to die, that's clear. But why didn't father tell us it would feel like this?" she finally said. She couldn't quite tell why, but she felt betrayed by him. As if all the great things their father had done in his career suddenly turned to ash in the realization that death was nothing like the great deed of justice she'd imagined it to be.

Jacob cleared his throat. "I can't believe I'm saying this now, but I think that was the lesson. Taking a life is much less satisfying than we took it to be, we can't kill as we please", he said, respect clear in his voice. "The message clearly hit home."

Evie let his words roll through her head. Then she looked at her brother, not hiding the satisfied grin on her face. "You realize father still taught us a lesson despite your refusal to listen to him?"

"Oh shut up, sister."


	2. Chapter 2

They crawled in, silently balancing along the beams to a small platform, and lay flat on their bellies, scooting forward to get a view of the building. It looked like a longhouse only separated by a halfway drawn up wall with a platform in the middle. The factory was loud and hot, filled with wisps of smoke that danced through the orange glowing air and mixed with children's voices, occasionally accompanied by a crash and a scream. Jacob could very well imagine purgatory to be like this.

The right side, under the twins, was full of children. Three big ovens lined the wall in front of them and the children filling them with coal in a steady, depressing rhythm looked too old for their age; Jacob wondered if they even remembered a life outside the factory. Their faces were black from soot, making their eyes stand out like little white, tired dots. Elsewhere four girls were cleaning a steam engine by dipping old rags into ice cold water so as not to burn their hands while scrubbing. With their heads shaved, so their hair wouldn't get caught in a machine, they were hardly distinguishable from the boys. There were several supervisors, each with a cane in hand with which they would whip at the children's fingers if they didn't work fast enough. As Jacob had seen so often, these children were quite literally building Victorian London and he was reminded of Blake's Chimney Sweeper.

Evie however had her eyes fixed on the side of the factory that was separated from the working children by the half drawn up wall. One corner seemed to house the owner: a big desk, which was strewn with maps and drawings, was flanked by two chests. A group of men stood around it, seemingly in a heated discussion. On the other end a table was set up, where a haggard man with an unfriendly expression was faced with a long line of adults, queueing in front of him. Parents collecting their little worker's wages, Evie guessed. Taking another sweeping look, she noticed a metal plate hanging on the wall above the desk: Starrick Industries. Evie's heart began to pound faster. If this was one of the last remaining Starrick factories it could store information on another Shroud.

She turned to her brother and tried to ignore the look of horror, disgust and anger on his face. "We need to get to those maps", Evie said pointing the desk out to Jacob. He shook his head. "We can't fight them and get the children out safely. And some records are not why we're here."

"Just because you don't bother to make a proper plan, doesn't mean I can't come up with one to get everything we want."

"Alright, sweet sister, so what do you propose?"

"See this office in the corner? It's a Starrick factory. So there has to be some kind of record over there; I'm going to walk in, let myself be captured and brought to the warden and get them."

Jacob stared at her. He'd never had reason to doubt any of her plans, but purposely getting captured seemed a little reckless. It was rather like something he would do, but not her and that alarmed him. "You're completely bonkers!"

Evie raised a challenging eyebrow at him. "I am bonkers? Remember that time when you flipped off grandma?" Jacob turned his attention back to the factory. "Yeah, because Grandma was being a bitch that day", he grumbled. Evie opened her mouth to scold him, but a smile stretched her face instead; it felt good and Evie had to fight to contain it. Jacob's grumble had turned into a full blown grin too.

"Remember when you were six and almost confessed your love to the station boy?" he quietly laughed.  
"Remember when I made you drink a puddle?" Evie shot back. Jacob tried to shoot her a warning look, but her victorious smile took him by surprise. Amidst all this horror her smile could still make him have a fuzzy, girly feeling in his stomach. "Dame Evie Frye, is that a smile on –"

Several gunshots interrupted them and they had to scramble away from the edge. "How did they know we were here? They couldn't have possibly seen us!" Evie shouted over the clamor as they drew their guns. Down below them the children had started screaming and covering their little heads with their arms. "Someone must've tipped them off", Jacob growled. They backed off until the force of an explosion made them topple over. They scrambled to their feet and looked down. One of the ovens had exploded. A supervisor ran past and threw a pouch into another oven; the children scrambled away as quickly as possible as seconds later it exploded as well. Evie looked over to the other side of the building, beyond the wall. The warden was setting fire to his desk and the chests.

"They're burning everything down!" Evie shouted, adrenaline calling her into action. "Forget the records, you get the children and I open the gate for you!" She briefly exchanged a look with Jacob and headed for the children.

All the supervisors were gone, having left the children in a state of panicked disarray. Evie looked around. There were at least 40 and they'd have to get out soon, unless she wanted them to choke on the thick smoke that was rising quickly. "Hey! Everyone come with me, I'm getting you out of here!" Reluctantly they gathered around her. They were obviously frightened of her, believing Evie to belong with the supervisors. She wanted to drop on her knees and gather every one of them around her in a hug, reassuring them that she was here to help them not hurt them. It became suddenly very clear to her why Jacob was always so taken by children. But now was not the time for shenanigans, what they thought of her didn't matter, as long as she got them out. "Follow me and stay away from the ovens!" she ordered and directed them towards the gate.

They ran like hell through the smoke and the heat and the gunshots. While running it was almost impossible to use eagle vision to direct them safely around burning machinery and collapsing beams and Evie briefly wondered what Jacob so enjoyed about missions like this that denied the safety and rigor of stealth.

One of the gunshots was followed by an all too familiar groan. Evie turned around just in time to see Jacob hit the ground at the foot of the opposite wall. Her whole body directed her towards him in an instinct to help, but she froze, waiting. It seemed like an infinite amount of time before Jacob got back to his feet and Evie released the breath she was holding. She turned back to the children, many of them already coughing harshly from the smoke. They were gathered around a small body that lay unmoving on the ground, their faces stricken with both horror and curiosity. Evie hurried towards them and picked up the passed out girl. "She'll be fine, I promise." At least, that's what she hoped. The uneasy feeling about the mission that was digging its way through her subconscious and the unfamiliar heavy responsibility she felt at protecting the children pushed at her anxiety levels and pressed her to escape the situation.

"Jacob, hurry!" she called over her shoulder, as she gathered the children at the gate. Another eternity seemed to pass, before the gate slowly started to go up. "Alright, everyone out!" she shouted, urging the first children to crawl through the crack that had opened. Eagerly she inhaled the wisps of fresh air that blew in, creating a sharp contrast to the thick atmosphere that seemed to suffocate everything. Suddenly the gate stopped opening and Evie yanked a boy back by his collar, just before he could be crushed by the gate that fell shut. What was happening? Evie turned around, trying to make out Jacob through all the smoke. He just looked at her, his expression unreadable. "What are you doing?! Open the gate!" she shouted angrily. But he turned around and looked at something on the other side of the separating wall. What was going on with him? Another boy dropped unconscious in front of her and she tried desperately to scoop him up in her arms as well. A lot of the children had started to cry, all of them coughed violently and Evie felt the air she breathed getting hotter by the second. The smoke stung in her lungs and she had to use all her concentration to keep her vision from becoming blurry.

Finally the gate opened again and Evie hurried the children out. Relieve flooded her when she breathed in the cool, fresh air outside. "Is everyone alright?" she asked, taking a sweeping look over the children. Now, in the daylight, she could really see the state they were in. Their faces black from soot, eyes bloodshot from the stinging smoke and their clothes ragged and dirty. Damaged, but safe. Though they seemed to have dropped in numbers. She turned around; at the entrance four children lay passed out still in the hall. Evie cursed and put the two children she had been carrying down. "Stay here, I'll get the others! Do not move!" The smell of burnt hair made her gag and her lungs screamed for air, as she held her breath and stormed in. She hoisted one child over each shoulder and staggered out again. She carried them to the other children and turned back, without stopping. Two more children, then they would be save. Through the smoke it was getting hard to make out the little bodies and she wiped at the tears that escaped her stinging eyes. Suddenly she tripped and drew in a surprised breath, immediately choking on the smoke. She fell to her knees and slipped in and out of eagle vision, trying to detect Jacob through the rubble. Evie shouted her brother's name, but all that came out was a hoarse rasping sound. Where was he?


	3. Chapter 3

"They're burning everything down!" Evie shouted. "Forget the records, you get the children and I open the gate for you!"

The twins briefly exchanged a grim look and nodded at each other before taking off in different directions. Jacob had spotted the wheel to open the gate on the children's side of the factory and headed for it; there was no use for stealth anymore. The air was thick, he had to dodge falling rubble several times and the gunshots echoed loudly in the closed hall. While he loved causing chaos, this was too much even for him, and following Evie's instructions instead of simply fighting their way out pushed at his nerves.

Out of the corner of his eye he could make out another Blighter who raced him to the wheel. Jacob reached for the gun at his belt while the other man did the same and Jacob's attention was drawn to a leather whip that was coiled up and tucked into the man's belt. Red, hot rage filled him as images of whipped children flooded his mind. For a split second a fleeting thought passed through his mind about how Evie always scolded him for screwing with her missions. Then the Blighter in front of Jacob changed from the red light of the enemy to the golden glow that marked the next target. With the change of target he felt the familiar pull that directed all his senses towards it, and he let the feeling fuel him, push him, take him over.

The change of Jacob's perception of him was almost recognizable for the Blighter and he reacted immediately, shooting blindly at the assassin.

Something hit Jacob's thigh and the wheel slid out of his line of vision as the floor raced towards him and he fell face down onto the ground. The impact pressed the air out of his lungs and he gasped as he turned onto his back. His line of vision was coated with a red film and when he felt for his face his hand came back bloody. "Prick," he spluttered as he scrambled back onto his feet, only to fall onto his knees again. He reached down and felt the warm wetness of his blood on his fingers that soaked his trousers. Panting and grunting he forced himself up again, looking around. The Blighter was hiding behind a crate, frantically reloading his pistol. Curling his fingers around the cool metal of his brass knuckles, he waited, and then flung himself at the Blighter when he stood up again, wrestling them both to the ground.

Jacob easily pinned the man under him and raised his fist. He paused, letting the Blighter rain punches over him, before letting his fist crash down on his head, putting all his force into it. He could hear the ugly crack and feel it under his knuckles, while hot, sticky blood flooded his hand. The left side of Blighter's face and forehead was almost bashed in, mouth bloody and distorted into an ugly smile. Breathing heavily he raised his arm again, ready to deliver another blow, but the body under him was still.

"Jacob, hurry!" Evie's call from far behind him brought him to his senses and he got up. With a final glance at the battered body on the ground he turned away and refocused on the wall ahead of him.

Jacob climbed up, trying to take down as many of Starrick's men as possible on his way. The whole wall shook, as he reached the top, reaching for the wheel to open the gate for the children to escape. He looked down and saw several people, parents he assumed, cutting their way through the fires and pounding on the wall to get to their children. Jacob called down to them to run, but by drawing attention to himself several men drew their guns on him, believing him to be one of Starrick's men. Jacob cursed and started turning the wheel to lift the gate on the children's side. The screaming to his left turned louder and he looked over his shoulder to see the gate on the other side shut, locking men and women in with the fire on their side. Surprised he let go of the wheel and it rattled back into default position; the gate on the children's side shut with a bang, while the other one reopened. They were connected by a hoist: opening one gate would close the other. No matter what he did, one side would be locked in. Sweat trickled down his back and he felt like the fire consumed all the oxygen, leaving him breathless.

Evie's shouts drew his gaze over the far end of the hall. She had gathered the children around her at the gate, carrying one of them in her arms and signaling him to free their way out. Smoke engulfed them and it was getting harder to make them out, while their coughs and gasps for fresh air rang loud and clear in his ears. He turned again and looked at the men and women at the foot of the wall, still banging their fists. "Run, goddammit! Get the hell out! Run!" he shouted down. Again he turned and saw another child drop to the ground. Evie struggled to scoop it up in her arms as well.

The decision was easy, really. He'd make sure the children got out safely first; only then would he go back for the others. But his hands still hovered above the wheel. What if it was too late by then? It would be. Swallowing to get rid of the lump in his throat he turned the wheel again, opening the gate on the children's side of the building. He looked over at them, making sure Evie got all of them out and not daring to look at the other side. Goosebumps crawled over his skin, when the men and women behind him, now trapped, screamed and choked, but he didn't dare looking at them.

A lot more children than anticipated stayed back in the hall, lying unconsciously on the floor. Jacob took his cane and tucked it in between the spokes to keep the wheel from turning back and then jumped down. Four steps in, he started coughing violently. The smoke that filled his lungs burned as if he'd swallowed fire and he staggered, hitting the ground several times. His thigh burned and he could feel the warmth of his blood down his thighs. By the time he reached the other end, only two children were still inside, next to them Evie who had passed out as well. He threw one of them over his shoulder and laid the other one onto Evie's passed out body and pulled them out. The rest of the children came running over, more curious than anything. In the distance he saw men running towards them and between the loud rushing of blood in his ears and his watering eyes he could hardly make out whether they were friend or foe. Hoping for the best he asked the children to stay with his sister, while pulling his red scarf out and wetting it in a puddle. Covering his mouth and nose with it he ran back in.

Halfway through the hall a suddenly immensely loud crash hit him and deafened his ears. In the ringing silence he saw a cloud of red and orange rolling towards him, consuming everything in its way like a tidal wave of destruction, and the force of the explosion sent him flying backwards. For the second time in just ten minutes the air was forced out of his lungs and black dots danced before his eyes before they rolled back in his head.


	4. Chapter 4

When Evie opened her eyes she couldn't see. The sun bore into her eyes, making her wince and turn away. All windows were open, only covered with light fabrics that swayed in the uncomfortably hot breeze, letting the sun illuminate the tiled floor. At the far end of the room a boy was sitting on the floor, cutting holes into a white cloth.

"Are you alright?" Henry asked next to her. Evie shook her head to come to and smiled reassuringly at him. "I just had an unruly dream."  
"But you didn't sleep," Henry replied and pressed a bouquet of daffodils into her hands.  
She looked at them confused. "Narcissus?"  
He smiled brightly at her and, circling his arm around her waist, led her outside through one of the windows into the garden. His hands were warm and gentle.

There was a long table situated under a line of trees, decked with food and flowers and cake. Though the sun bore down mercilessly, Evie was freezing and she wrapped her sari tighter around her as she sat down. "I'm sorry, I forgot to give him back to you," Henry said gently and wrapped Jacob's arms tightly around her shoulders.

"What is this?" she asked, pointing at the table. A shrill laughter drew her attention towards the end of the table, where Lucy Thorne stood, hands clasped at her back and head held up high.  
"Pearl would not want justice," she sneered. Starrick raised his hand to silence her while nipping at his tea thoughtfully, before he turned to Evie and called, "I was sorry to hear about the dress."  
Vague images of her dancing with Starrick flashed through her mind, though she'd been sure that she'd only dreamed their dance together. He still looked at her and she felt a warm sense of relief in her chest that he was there, drinking tea with everyone else, not being the enemy.

Her attention was diverted again when someone tugged at her sleeve. It was the boy she'd seen in their bedroom earlier. "Happy birthday, Miss Frye," he quacked and pressed the cloth he'd been cutting up into her hands. "You shouldn't have left him alone in London," he added seriously. "You shouldn't have done that." Before she could answer, he danced away.

Evie squirmed in her chair uncomfortably and put the cloth aside. Another Henry sat down next to her and grabbed her hand reassuringly, while the one opposite her pulled the cloth over his head. "What are you doing?" she whispered annoyed.  
"I am your husband," Henry number two said surprised.  
"No, him!" Evie said, pointing at the Henry whose face was now covered with the fabric, only leaving two holes for his eyes.  
"Don't worry about your brother," Henry number two said, squeezing her hand. Confused, she turned back to him; he still smiled at her unwaveringly. The gentle tone of his voice, his loving eyes and the love and respect he treated her with reminded her why she fell in love with him in the first place. Having found someone she loved deeply aside from her brother made her feel somewhat free and filled her with a sense of pride and even relief. She let her face be taken over by her smile as she looked at Henry and she felt her joy literally glowing and radiating off of her.

"You always looked most beautiful when you wear the Shroud," Henry said, stroking her cheek. Evie's smile faltered and she looked down. A Shroud of Eden was wrapped around her like a shawl and glowed golden.  
"I shouldn't wear this," she said skeptically and pulled at it, but it only wrapped itself tighter around her, cutting at her airways and making her cough.

"Miss? Miss!" Evie opened her eyes; they stung and watered and she could hardly make out the face of the man that hovered above her. "Are you quite alright?" he asked and extended a hand. Evie took it and sat up and immediately a coughing fit shook her body. There was a bustle of firefighters, reporters with pencils at the ready and nurses tending to the children. "Miss Nightingale?" Evie murmured, blinking several times to clear her blurry vision. "I'm sorry? Did you get caught in the fire, Miss?" Evie turned her attention back to the man. "Yes, ah… I saw children escaping from the burning building and ran to help them," she said, trying to muster a smile as she scrambled to her feet. Where was Jacob?

"How brave, how brave for a… young woman. You should get yourself looked at by one of the nurses, Miss! You have probably hurt yourself," the man observed.

"I am alright, Sir, thank you," Evie said curtly.

"But you should really-," he started. "I can handle myself!" the older twin hissed. "I better get home to my husband, I have had a terrible fright and he is surely worried about me wandering about on my own," she quickly added in a sweet voice.

"Oh yes, of course! Shall I call a carriage for you?" the man asked brightly, but she just took off. She ran around the block and then approached the burnt down hall from the other side. It was almost dark and Jacob would have looked for her and found her already. Since he hadn't, it could only mean he got held up or passed out. And hopefully not under the collapsed debris.

There was hardly anything left of the building. All the wood – the roof, the walls, the interior – had burned away, leaving only stripped machinery, like black skeletons. It was getting darker by the second and in the distance Evie heard the fire fighters calling off their search for survivors for the day. She carefully stepped onto the charred remnants, calling her brother's name as loudly as she dared without drawing attention to herself. Circling around the blackened ovens she saw a figure that sat at the foot of one of them. "Jacob!" she exclaimed. His trousers were blood soaked and his face and coat black from the soot, but he was alive and breathing.

Still there was something wrong; Jacob didn't look up, his gaze fixed at something behind her. "What the hell was going on there, Jacob? We almost choked while you took your sweet time!" He made no move of showing he'd heard her. Evie dropped down on her knees in front of him and roughly took his face in her hands. "Jacob!" she repeated. Still nothing. Was he in shock? "We did it, we saved them, now let's get out of here," she said, gently this time. Now he looked at her.  
"No." His voice was hoarse, as if he'd been crying. Evie furrowed her brows and shook her head. "What… they're just outside –"

Jacob cut her off by nodding his head at something behind her. She turned, but there was nothing but charred wood and soot covered metals. About to ask him what was going on, her voice caught in her throat. There, under a beam that hadn't completely burned down, was a body. She went over and lifted the beam aside. Whether it was a man or a woman, she couldn't tell. The hair and most of the clothes had burned off, here and there the skin was burnt as well and the corpse emitted a sickly sweet smell. Taking a scrutinizing look around, Evie was able to make out more bodies. This couldn't be, they must be Starrick's men. But there were so many of them.

Evie swallowed and turned to Jacob. "Was is this?" she demanded, her voice now only a whisper.  
"Innocents. Parents. They were trying to get to the children and I… I locked them in when I opened the gate for you."  
Now Evie understood. They were collateral damage, a feature of their work that they couldn't always escape. "Jacob," she said. "This –"

He cut her off. "I tried to come back for them, when you were all save. But the oven exploded…" Evie looked at him hesitantly; there wasn't much to say, but she tried anyway. "Starrick's men would have burned them alive, you saved those children!"

"Evie, I orphaned them!" Jacob uttered through clenched teeth. His hands were balled up in fists and he pressed them to his temples. Evie reached out to her brother, but he evaded her touch. "Let's go home," he eventually murmured.

Jacob couldn't look at his sister the whole way back to the train. There he let her shower him with words of comfort and security before leaving him alone in his car, while all he was thinking about was to get flat out drunk with his Rooks. He knew that she knew what was going through his head and sure enough she didn't come back to check on him to keep him from doing exactly that. So, after staring into nothingness in the dark car for long enough, he got up and went out drinking.

Evie was already awake when she heard the thud of Jacob's heavy boots on top of the train and then the clatter of his doors open and close. She waited a few minutes before getting up, pulling her coat over her night gown and checking on him. He'd just about made it to his couch, boots still on – as usual – and his hat pulled over his face. It smelled like alcohol, stale cigarettes and burnt leather, so Evie quietly pulled the sliding window a crack open. Then she began unlacing his boots and pulling them off, one by one. When she removed the hat from his face she startled. One of his cheekbones had a cut across it that was red and swollen. Sighing she removed his gloves and checked on his knuckles. They were also red and had burst open on several fingers; he'd gotten in a fight. Taking an old rag and dipping it in water she cleaned his hands and face from the blood, before wrestling his haphazardly removed coat out from under him and inspecting the wound where he'd been shot the day before. She unbuckled his belts and carefully pulled his trousers down, trying not to touch the wound. It was an open, frayed laceration, the bullet had only grazed him, not damaging any bone or artery. Swiftly she cleaned it as well and wrapped a bandage around it. Jacob didn't stir out of his sleep even once. Finally, Evie wiped down his legs to remove the soot and dried blood and covered him with a light blanket. Looking down at him she wondered if this was what it would have been like had they grown up with a mother.

Back in her car Evie dressed and went out to check on the children, tracking down Miss Nightingale, the Asylum and several orphanages. Most of them were in care, recovering from smoke intoxication. Three others were found in an orphanage and Evie watched them eat at a large dining table for a long time. Most of these working children didn't even know their parents anymore, having been thrust into a life of hard labour to bring home money as soon as they could walk and talk. These children were brave, braver than Evie ever had to be, but they shouldn't have to be. Evie picked out one particular girl she distinctly remembered from yesterday. Her parents might have died in the fire yesterday, but most likely she had been an orphan before. Not working on dangerous machinery she would be allowed to grow her hair back out. Maybe she'd grow up to be a beautiful woman with a beautiful husband and beautiful children. Living in a London free of Templars and the crushing poverty. Evie kept that image of a happy future for the child locked in her heart, trying to cover all the harm they had done with this one happy end.

Jacob woke after hours of unsound sleep. His back ached and despite the blanket he shivered from the cold. His stomach growled as he sat up, but the mere thought of eating also turned it upside down. The throbbing head and burning hands reminded him of the fight he'd had last night. Getting up he looked himself in the mirror and was surprised when he wasn't confronted with a battered reflection of himself: there was no ugly dried blood, just some cleaned cuts and a well visible bump. He hazily remembered the hunk of a man he'd gotten into an argument with. Jacob hadn't meant to be a disrespectful arse by insulting the man's wife and he had certainly never treated any woman with this disrespect. But the punch he had elicited from the man by his remarks had felt good. Someone had to show this guy that he couldn't stride into Jacob's bar like he didn't have a care in the world. After all, the world wasn't fair.

Jacob sighed and swiped over his face with his hand. He'd made an utter idiot of himself last night, there was no denying that and the little voice in the back of his head telling him that sounded suspiciously like his sister. Suddenly he felt like arguing and he strode over to Evie's car, banging the door open. But when there was nothing to find, except the meticulously clean interior that had her name written all over it, his anger went away as fast as it had come and he somehow found comfort in her room. Mindlessly he took a book from her shelf and slumped down into her reading chair. A little cloud of dust rose and he followed a tiny grain as it slowly danced through the air in a streak of light that came through the blinds. It seemed to have been a while since she'd taken the time to sit down with one of her books. Anger flashed through him again at his own sullen state and he opened the book at a random page.

Returning home Evie was surprised to find Jacob in her own car, curled up in her reading chair with a book in hand, but staring ahead absentmindedly. Evie felt somewhat awkward, her first instinct was to ask him how he was doing, but she knew it would sound ridiculous. So instead she left him alone and started tending to her boots with jelly just to have something to do.

After a while Jacob came out of his catatonic state. "I'm going out," he announced simply, getting up stiffly. "See if the Rooks have come up with a lead or two." Evie looked up; she knew it was a lie and that he would just continue drinking where he left off last night. But fighting was not the best idea now.  
"Don't you want to know what happened to the children?" she asked. He shook his head, heading for the door, but Evie stepped in his way. "All of them made it out alive. Maybe, if you saw them –"

"No. Seeing them will only remind me of what I did to get them there," he interrupted her tiredly, pushing her out of his way and leaving.

Evie didn't stop him this time. She was tired and though this was not the first time their success had been somewhat dubious, it was the first time, since their very first mission, that she felt like this. It was ironic, really, how helping others had suddenly become toxic to themselves. It was never meant to be this way, they were supposed to free London together, so they could rebuild the brotherhood here, together. But now Henry was gone, they hadn't made a single move to reestablish anything and they were so out of rhythm with each other that they could no longer rely on each other. The brief moment of recalling childhood memories the other day was the only good thing they'd shared in months. And Evie didn't just miss him, even though it had taken her long to acknowledge it, but she longed for him. His banter, his closeness, his touch. Sighing she turned to undress und saw the book Jacob had taken from her shelf. She couldn't remember the last time her brother had even bothered to read a title. She took it up: William Blake's poem book. The Chimney Sweeper. Of course. She knew it by heart and let Jacob's voice recite it in her head.


End file.
